Demountable cells for shielding radioactive elements

ABSTRACT

A shielded cell for the safe manipulation of objects or materials which present hazards arising from radioactive radiation or other causes and which are to be isolated from the environment. The construction of the cell entails the use of a small number of different types of standard reversible elements of maximum size which are designed for reuse and are provided in particular with penetrations located in accordance with operating requirements. The elements to be interassembled by known means for ensuring compliance with shielding requirements are essentially endowed with shapes related to a square unit of which one side is a suitable multiple of the common thickness of said elements, to rectangular elements each having a length corresponding to one side of said square unit of a width corresponding to simple submultiples thereof, a cornerpost provided with means for assembly and fastening at right angles, and rectangular elements adapted to carry overlap slabs for covering said cells.

[54] DEMOUNTABLE CELLS FOR SHllELDING RADHOACTIVE ELEMENTS [72] Inventors: Letto Fedi, 29 Avenue de Petit Parc, LEtang-la-Ville; Charles Glachet, Rue Jean Mermoz-Batiment S., Taverny,'both of France [22] Filed: Dec. 27, 1968 [21] Appl. No.: 787,323

[30] Foreign Application Priority Data Dec. 28, 1967 France ..l'34l71 [52] 0.8. CI. ..250/108 WS [51] int. Cl. ..G21f 7/02, G2 1f 7/06 [58] Field of Search ..250/108 WS, 106 S [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,114,901 4/1938 l-lenderson..... .....52/732 X 2,420,427 5/1947 Henderson ..52/296 X 2,895,324 7/1959 Rosenweig 2,932,745 4/1960 Alberti et a1. ..250/108 WS [4 1 Feb. 22, 1972 FORElGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 1,127,535 8/1956 France ..250/108 Primary Examiner-James W. Lawrence Assistant ExaminerMorton J. Frome Att0rrieyCar neron, Kerkam & Sutton [5 7] ABSTRACT A shielded cell for the safe manipulation of objects or materials which present hazards arising from radioactive radiation or other causes and which are to be isolated from the environment. The construction of the cell entails the use of a small number of different types of standard reversible elements of maximum size which are designed for reuse and are provided in particular with penetrations located in accordance with operating requirements. The elements to be interassembled by known means for ensuring compliance with shielding requirements are essentially endowed with shapes related to a square unit of which one side is a suitable multiple of the common thickness of said elements, to rectangular elements each having a length corresponding to one side of said square unit of a width corresponding to simple submultiples thereof, a comerpost provided with means for assembly and fastening at right angles, and rectangular elements adapted to carry overlap slabs for covering said cells.

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures PATENTEI] FEB 22 I972 SHEET 1 BF 3 DEMOUNTABLE CELLS FOlR SHIELDKNG RADIOACTIVE ELEMENTS The present invention relates to shielded cells for the safe manipulation of objects and especially objects which present hazards arising from radioactive radiation or other causes or any objects or materials which are to be isolated from the environment.

Among shielded cells of this type, the invention is more especially concerned with all demountable cells for handling radioactive products. As is already known, cells of this type must have wall openings for such components as handling tongs and manipulators, viewing openings for windows, ports and periscopes, transfer openings for doors, lock chambers, transport flasks and conveyors, and for ancillary systems such as ducts, electric supply cables, ventilation.

The primary objective of the present invention is to make said cells such that they conform to the various practical shapes and volumes of the cells, the thicknesses of the shielding material and the selected opening locations with a structural design which makes it possible without entailing any special study to conform to the essential requirements of relative arrangements of openings on the one. hand with respect to each other, e.g., windows in relation to manipulators, ports in relation to handling tongs and the like and, on the other hand, with respect to the working areas in the cells.

The invention consists in employing for the construction of said cells a minimum number of different types of standard reversible elements of maximum size which are designed for reuse and are provided in particular with openings exactly in accordance with operating requirements, said elements being interassembled by any known means for ensuring compliance with shielding requirements. It is a main object of the invention to provide said elements with shapes related to a square unit one side of which is a suitable multiple of the common thickness of said elements, to rectangular elements each having a length corresponding to the length of one side of said square unit and a width corresponding to a simple submultiple thereof, a cornerpost provided with means for assembly and fastening of the elements at right angles thereto, and rectangular elements adapted to carry overlap slabs for covering said cells.

Apart from the main arrangement referred to above, the invention consists in certain additional arrangements which are preferably employed at the same time and are to be considered either separately or in any technically feasible combinations, in particular:

the widths of said rectangular elements correspond to onehalf. one-third, one-sixth and one-twelfth and the thicknesses of said elements correspond to one-twelfth or one twenty-fourth of the length of the side of said square unit,

the widths of said rectangular elements correspond to onehalf, one-fifth and one-tenth and the thicknesses of said elements correspond to one-tenth or one-twentieth of the length ofthe side ofsaid square unit,

said square unit includes a window,

said square unit includes a window and two manipulator penetrations,

said rectangular element is provided with a port,

said rectangular element is provided with one opening for a door and/or transport flask,

said rectangular element is provided with two openings for universal-joint handling tongs,

said assembly means for said elements includes edges in which are formed complementary stepped recesses which may be reversible,

said stepped recesses have a herringbone profile,

said fastening means are plates provided with at least four holes spaced in two perpendicular directions at distances which are simple submultiples of the length of the side of said square unit, said elements being also provided with blind end bores which are aligned both internally and externally at a distance from the edges thereof which is equal to one-half the submultiple chosen along one of the directions of said plates and located at a distance from each other which corresponds to the submultiple chosen for the other direction, said blind end bores being normally sealed in the usual manner,

said plates are of several different types, the number of holes formed in these different types being in simple ratios.

The complementary description which now follows and the accompanying drawings will provide a better understanding of the invention and are given primarily by way of explanation without any limitation being thereby implied.

in the accompanying drawings:

FIG. 1 is a view in isometric perspective showing a first type of cell as constructed in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a view in isometric perspective showing a second type of cell as constructed in accordance with the invention;

and FlG. 3is a horizontal sectional view of a third type of cell as constructed in accordance with the invention.

A cell having two workstations constructed with standard elements in' accordance with the invention is illustrated in FIG. 1. This figure shows most of the standard elements which are necessary for the construction of any cell in which the widths of the rectangular components correspond to one-half, one-third, one-sixth and one-twelfth and the thicknesses of said components correspond to one-twelfth of the length of the side of the basic square unit. The elements are made of suitable material depending upon the type of shielding to be provided and may be made oflead, steel, plastic materials and the like and combinations thereof as would be obvious to one skilled in the art.

The following different elements are seen to constitute the cell:

1. A square unit or element, the dimensions of which must be suitably chosen and which can be provided (at 1) with three openings, namely two openings such as 3 for manipulators such as Sand one opening such as 7 for a window such as 9, or alternatively which can have (at 11) similar dimensions but no openings.

2. A rectangular element which (as shown at 13) can be equal in length to the side of the square element and equal in width to one-half the length of said side, said rectangular element being provided with one opening for a port 15, or alternatively which (as shown at 17) has the same dimensions but no openings.

3. A rectangular element which (as shown at 19) can be equal in length to the side of the square element and equal in width to one-third of the length of said side, said rectangular element being provided with two openings for handling tongs such as 21 having universal joints such as 23, or alternatively which (as shown at 25) has the same dimensions but no openings.

4. A rectangular element such as 27 having a length which is equal to or double the length of the side of the square element and having a width corresponding to onesixth of the length of said side.

5. A cornerpost such as 29 which is equal in length to or double the length of the side of the square element and having a width in both perpendicular directions which is equal to onetwelfth of the length of said side.

By making use of a suitable number of all these different elements, a very wide range of possible combinations is available. Thus, the mode of assembly which is illustrated in FIG, 1 is a particular example of only one such combination. All the elements are provided with holes which are spaced at a distance corresponding to one-sixth of the length of the side of the square element and aligned along straight lines at a distance from their two vertical edges of one twenty-fourth of the length of the side of the square element.

Two kinds of assembly plates will be employed for the assembly ofthe cell:

l. Plates such as the plate 31 each provided with four holes located vertically at a distance corresponding to one-sixth and horizontally at a distance corresponding to one-twelfth of the length of the side of the square element.

2. Plates such as the plate 33 each provided with eight holes and double the size of the plates 31, the holes being located at the same distances from each other.

Only the screws such as 35 of the plates 31 and 33 have been illustrated in FIG. 1 and the holes in the elements themselves have not been shown since they are normally sealed.

The complete cell unit is supported on a base plate 37 and is surmounted by a roof which is also constructed from standar elements in the following manner:

L-section members such as the member 39 are screwed internally into the holes of the top cell elements and rectangular elements such as the element 41 rest at uniform intervals on the L-section members 39. Members such as 43 which have the same thickness as the cornerposts 29 are placed around the entire periphery of the cell on the top of the cell walls and are adapted to cooperate with the rectangular elements such as 41 which support overlap slabs such as the slab 45.

The assembly arrangement which is chosen in all the figures in order to maintain requisite standards of protection against radiation is the so-called herringbone" arrangement which is shown, for example, at 47 in FIG. 1. This arrangement has the advantage of being compatible with many existing cell elements but any other construction which complies with radiation shielding requirements is within the scope of this invention.

FIG. 2 illustrates a cell of smaller size which is mounted on a square baseplate 49, said baseplate being in turn placed on a table 51. There is again shown in this embodiment the rectangular element 13 with its port 15, the rectangular element 19 with its handling tongs 21 and universal joints 23, the rectangular element 27, the cornerpost 29, the elements 43 and the slabs 45, the other covering elements not being seen in this figure.

FIG. 3 is a horizontal cross section of another embodiment providing double protection. It has proved sufficient for this purpose to superpose or tojuxtapose the standard elements already defined and the construction of a cell of this type is made possible by virtue of the dimensions which are chosen for the elements under consideration. The fact that these elements are reversible has made it possible, for example, either to superpose or to juxtapose two square elements such as the element 1 (components 1a and lb), two square elements such as 11 (components 11a and 11b), two rectangular elements such as 27 (components 27a and 27b) which could also be rectangular elements such as 53 (shown in FIG. 3) and cornerposts such as the post 29 (components 29a and 29b). However, this arrangement calls for the use of rectangular elements such as either the element 53 which have the same width as the cornerposts 29 or the members 43 but are provided with stepped or herringbone" recesses on two opposite faces. Said elements 53 can also coincide with the cornerposts 29 which are in that case provided with additional herringbone faces.

All the constructional arrangements hereinabove described have been made with elements having a thickness which was equal to one-twelfth of the length of the side of the square element, said thickness being doubled in the case of FIG. 3. By making provision for additional elements having a thickness which would correspond to one twenty-fourth of the length of the side of the square element, it would be possible to construct cells having thinner walls and, by associating both types of elements, it would be possible to construct cells having a wall thickness which would correspond to one and one-half times that of the cells of FIGS. 1 and 2. The requirement last mentioned is sufficiently common to warrant provision being made for this arrangement.

Although it is not considered useful to show other forms of construction, it would obviously be possible to construct cells having a width corresponding to one-half, one and one-half times or double and so forth with respect to the width of cell shown in FIG. 1 and having a height corresponding to double or three times the height of the cell shown in FIG. 1.

The examples which have been chosen have been described on the basis of a square unit, of its multiple 2 and of its submultiples V2, /ia, l/6, 1/12 and H24 and so forth, that is to say the combinations of the numbers 2 and 3. Starting from the square unit or a differentsquare unit, it would also be possible to use the multiple 2, and submultiples US, H10 and 1/20, that is to say combinations of the numbers 2 and 5. Similarly, combinations of the numbers 3 and 5 would produce analogous results. Above the number 5, the following prime numbers would not produce sufficiently simple combinations to warrant their being used in a standard assembly according to the invention.

As will be understood and as is now apparent from the foregoing, the present invention is not limited in any sense to the mode of application or to the examples of construction which have been more especially described and illustrated but extends to all alternative forms.

What we claim is:

l. A shielded cell for objects to be isolated from the environment, having connected walls comprising a minimum number of standard reversible reusable elements, opening in said elements for operating requirements, means for connecting said elements for shielding, the dimensions of said elements being based on the dimensions ofa square unit, one side of said unit being a multiple of the common thickness of said elements, said elements including square elements having dimensions equal to the square unit, rectangular elements each having a length corresponding to the length to one side of said square unit and a width corresponding toa simple submultiple thereof, said elements including a cornerpost and means for fastening said square elements and said rectangular elements to said cornerpost, said fastening means including plates having at least four holes spaced in two perpendicular directions at distances which are simple submultiples of the length of the side of said square unit, said elements having blind end bores aligned internally and externally at a distance from the edges thereof equal to one-half the submultiple along one of the directions of said plates and at a distance from each other which corresponds to the submultiple for the other direction, said blind end bores being normally sealed.

2. A cell in accordance with claim 1, the widths of said rectangular elements corresponding to one-half, onethird, one-sixth, and one-twelfth and the thicknesses of said rectangular elements corresponding to one-twelfth and one twentyfourth of the side of said square unit.

3. A cell in accordance with claim 1, the widths of said rectangular elements corresponding to one-half, one-fifth and one-tenth and the thicknesses of said rectangular elements corresponding to one-tenth and one-twentieth of the length of the side of said square unit.

4. A cell in accordance with claim 1, said square element having a window.

5. A cell in accordance with claim 1, said square element having a window and two manipulator openings.

6. A cell in accordance with claim 1, said rectangular element includes a port.

7. A cell in accordance with claim 1, said rectangular element includes a door for a transport flask.

8." A cell in accordance with claim 1, said rectangular element including two openings for universal joint handling tongs.

9. A cell in accordance with claim 1, said means for connecting said elements for shielding including complementary stepped edges on said elements.

10. A cell in accordance with claim 9, said stepped edges have a herringbone profile. 

1. A shielded cell for objects to be isolated from the environment, having connected walls comprising a minimum number of standard reversible reusable elements, opening in said elements for operating requirements, means for connecting said elements for shielding, the dimensions of said elements being based on the dimensions of a square unit, one side of said unit being a multiple of the common thickness of said elements, said elements including square elements having dimensions equal to the square unit, rectangular elements each having a length corresponding to the length to one side of said square unit and a width corresponding to a simple submultiple thereof, said elements including a cornerpost and means for fastening said square elements and said rectangular elements to said cornerpost, said fastening means including plates having at least four holes spaced in two perpendicular directions at distances which are simple submultiples of the length of the side of said squaRe unit, said elements having blind end bores aligned internally and externally at a distance from the edges thereof equal to one-half the submultiple along one of the directions of said plates and at a distance from each other which corresponds to the submultiple for the other direction, said blind end bores being normally sealed.
 2. A cell in accordance with claim 1, the widths of said rectangular elements corresponding to one-half, one-third, one-sixth, and one-twelfth and the thicknesses of said rectangular elements corresponding to one-twelfth and one twenty-fourth of the side of said square unit.
 3. A cell in accordance with claim 1, the widths of said rectangular elements corresponding to one-half, one-fifth and one-tenth and the thicknesses of said rectangular elements corresponding to one-tenth and one-twentieth of the length of the side of said square unit.
 4. A cell in accordance with claim 1, said square element having a window.
 5. A cell in accordance with claim 1, said square element having a window and two manipulator openings.
 6. A cell in accordance with claim 1, said rectangular element includes a port.
 7. A cell in accordance with claim 1, said rectangular element includes a door for a transport flask.
 8. A cell in accordance with claim 1, said rectangular element including two openings for universal joint handling tongs.
 9. A cell in accordance with claim 1, said means for connecting said elements for shielding including complementary stepped edges on said elements.
 10. A cell in accordance with claim 9, said stepped edges have a herringbone profile. 